Living Free
by xforeverquotex
Summary: Adele and Kaidan work together to overcome the hardships of war. What will their paths be and will the two worn soldiers be able to recover from the damage they've been through/seen? *Post ME3* *Post Destroy* *Some spoilers in future chapters*
1. The Aftermath

**Author Note: My femshep is a colonist and sole survivor of Akuze. I have no Beta and my mistakes are entirely my own. I do not own any of the characters, sadly, Bioware owns the amazing Mass Effect story. This game has seriously taken over my life. Please review, feel free to favorite and maybe follow the story if you like it!**

"Daddy!" Isabella screamed as she ran towards Kaidan.

"Hey there sweetie, what are you still doing up? It's nearly 10 pm!" Kaidan replied as he scooped up his four-year old daughter into his arms. Kaidan looked at how much his daughter had changed since he had left for duty. He could see so much of his wife, Adele Shepard, in Izzy's face. Izzy shared her mother's long, dark brown curly hair and also shared her mother's smile.

"The thunder and lightening kept me up, and then I heard the door open and came to see who was here."

"Let's get you back to bed, but where's mommy Izzy?" Kaidan asked. He had hoped to surprise her with his early homecoming.

"Mommy went to bed too." Isabella replied.

Kaidan carried Isabella up the stairs to her room, and tucked her into bed. But when Kaidan turned to leave, Izzy clutched onto his dress blues with a fist so tight, that her knuckles were turning white.

"I'm so scared of the storm Daddy…" Izzy whispered quietly. Like her mother, Kaidan noticed Isabella also seemed to hate admitting her fears and weaknesses. Looking at the panic in his daughter's golden-brown eyes nearly broke Kaidan's heart.

"Thunder is nothing but heated air that's expanding. As long as you have a thunder buddy, there is no reason to be afraid." Kaidan dashed downstairs to retrieve his duffle bag. When he returned to Isabella's room, he reached into his duffle bag to grab a bear dressed in Alliance blues.

"This is a reminder that mommy and I will always fight away everything that scares you, and that you are braver than you think." Kaidan kissed his daughter's head goodnight, and quietly shut the door.

Kaidan walked down the hall to the bedroom he shared with his wife and slowly opened the door. Adele wasn't in bed, but was instead sitting with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders on a chair that looked outside to their balcony. Kaidan knew his wife was a survivor. A survivor of the massacre of her family on Mindoir and the slaughter of her unit on Akuze, but even after all that Adele has overcome, thunder still kept her up at night. Kaidan walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around his wife. Adele whipped her head around, startled, and abruptly stood up.

"Sorry, sorry, I guess I should know better than to sneak up on a beautiful N7 soldier," Kaidan said with a lopsided grin.

"Kaidan! What the hell! I almost had a heart attack!" Shepard said as she jumped, and wrapped her legs around Kaidan's waist embracing him as tightly as possible. The sheer force of their momentum caused Kaidan to stumble backwards and tumble onto the bed. Kaidan took the opportunity to grab Adele and take her hostage under the covers.

"I see that the thunder still has you awake," Kaidan murmured as he slowly kissed Adele's lips before she could answer. Kaidan saw a flash of sorrow that crossed her eyes as he mentioned her fear.

"The thunder reminds me of the war and all of the people we lost. These storms constantly throw me back to Mindoir when I was running for my life through a raging storm trying to find relief from the bartarians after watching them slaughter my family." Adele fought back tears in her eyes and went to turn away from Kaidan. Kaidan cupped her face and forced her to look at him.

"It's the duty of the strong to protect the weak, and that is exactly what you have done. You neglect to take care of yourself, but instead take care of everyone else around you. When I look at you, something so beautiful, it reminds me what I fought for to save. I fought for you and every insecurity, fear, and imperfection that comes along with you." Kaidan said with a fire in his eyes. _How can a woman that is so determined, strong, and confident not see how much I love her no matter what has happened or __will_ _happen in the future_, Kaidan thought. When Kaidan finished speaking Adele just stared at him. Kaidan was about to ask what was wrong before Adele flipped him over and straddled his waist. Adele kissed Kaidan so fiercely that Kaidan was sure his lips would be bruised in the morning. Neither of the two cared.

When Adele finally came up for air she said, " I will love you till the end of time."

"And I will love you even beyond that," Kaidan replied. Kaidan pulled Adele into his side and the two fell asleep as a mess of tangled limbs side by side.


	2. Birthday, Memories and Old Friends

_There was fire everywhere, ash covered her hands, and the smoke clouded her blue eyes. Smoke filled her lungs, breathing became harder, every cough was a battle and her breaths were coming less and less frequently. Whispers of the fallen were everywhere. "You did good…" was the whisper from Anderson that finally sent Adele over the edge, and sent her to collapse towards the ground. Adele's throat constricted from the lack of oxygen, and the last thing she saw was Isabella burning up in front of her with the scream of a Reaper echoing in the background. _Adele's eyes snapped open, automatically grabbing for her throat gasping for air. Kaidan was propped up on his hands hovering over Adele, shaking her shoulders.

"Wake up! Come on Adele wake up, your starting to scare me." Kaidan's eyes were frantic and were searching Adele's eyes as soon as they snapped open.

"Where is Isabelle? Is she ok? We need to…. We need to…" The words tumbled out of Adele's mouth as she struggled to get up, despite Kaidan's arms weighing her down. Kaidan cupped her face forcing her to look him in the eyes. Adele knew that Kaidan was waiting for her to tell him about her dream. No matter how hard Adele tried, Kaidan saw right through her "commander face" and gave up trying to hide her nightmares from him years ago.

"It was about the Reapers and instead of the little boy that was killed as we took off in the Normandy, it was Isabella. Not to mention that everyday I think of Anderson and how bad I wanted it to be him that walked me down the aisle when I got married to you. He was my mentor, my best friend and practically my father. Anderson's last words were used to tell me that I would be a great mother and that I did good." Tears slid down Adele's face as she struggled to iterate the last words of her father figure.

Kaidan continued to hold Adele as she silently cried herself back to sleep. _This was not the best way to start her birthday_ Kaidan thought. Adele told Kaidan that she never celebrated her birthday because she never saw anything that was worth being happy for on this day. Adele thought she was almost like the Angel of Death. Everywhere she went Adele was convinced destruction and the pain of loss would follow. Kaidan slipped out of bed and went downstairs into the kitchen to start breakfast. As he reached the landing on the stairs, Kaidan heard a loud crash from the kitchen. Stepping into the kitchen, Kaidan found Isabella on a stool, with her hair tied in a bun, her glasses on, and flour smeared all over her face, as well as the rest of the kitchen. There were mixing bowls, measuring cups, spatulas, and pans on most of the counters with ingredients such as flour, eggs, and baking soda on the last remaining counters.

"Ummm sweetie, what are you doing?" Kaidan asked Isabella as he surveyed the war zone.

"It's mommy's birthday today and so I have the whole day planned and I'm going to bring her breakfast in bed, then we…" Isabella was talking as fast as she could, there was excitement shown in each word.

"Whoa, let's focus on one thing at a time, starting with breakfast. What are you trying to make?" Kaidan said as he was chuckling to himself. Isabella was rash just like her mother and didn't complete the first task at hand before going on to the next.

"Pancakes, duh! Have you ever seen Mom eat? She LOVES the ones with fruit in them." Isabella chattered as she continued to mix a concoction in a bowl. Isabella was throwing some flour into the bowl and then milk without any concern for the order of how the ingredients got in the bowl.

"Izzy lets start over, your not supposed to just throw the ingredients in the bowl in any order and you actually have to measure the ingredients if you want the pancakes to taste good, ok?" Kaidan suggested. Kaidan was still laughing over Isabelle's enthusiasm over making pancakes that he didn't dwell on the large amount of food Adele was eating. Kaidan knew Adele wasn't biotic.

Isabella forehead creased with lines of frustration, but gave into her father's help. An hour and a half latter, the daughter and father produced a stack of blueberry and raspberry pancakes, with Canadian bacon on the side, and maple syrup to top the whole dish off. Isabella threw everything onto a tray and bounced up the stairs, proud to present the meal to her Mom. _I'll never get used to how much they are alike with their fiery tempers, rash decisions, and hearts bigger than anything in the world _Kaidan thought to himself as he assembled the usual coffee for Adele and himself. Kaidan made it back upstairs to find Adele's eyes a little puffy from the nightmare she had earlier, but Adele had a mega-watt smile on as she looked at her daughter who was lying beside her. Kaidan handed his wife her coffee and walked outside on the balcony to answer a hail from his omni-tool. When Kaidan opened his omni-tool Joker's face popped up.

"Hey, so I will be flying the gang over ETA three hours, in style of course." Joker said with his infamous smirk.

"Perfect. Izzy is planning on keeping Adele busy for a few hours anyways." Kaidan replied.

"I'm going to pick up Jack, wish my luck." Joker said, rolling his eyes and sighing.

"Take pictures!" Kaidan said, knowing that Jack and Joker always gave each other an ear full. Kaidan closed his omni-tool and walked back into the bedroom to find Izzy walking out of the room with an empty tray and his wife starting to remove her clothes to take a shower. Kaidan knew that Adele didn't suspect half of the things that he had planned for her birthday.


	3. Preparations

Kaidan walked behind Adele as she continued to take her shirt and pants off, leaving her in her black lace bra and matching underwear. Kaidan kissed the hollow of her neck and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Happy Birthday," Kaidan murmured with his face buried in her long, brown braided hair.

"Ugh, you know I hate celebrating it." Adele said with sadness in her eyes.

"Well your daughter certainly doesn't hate celebrating it. Oh, and by the way, if you don't want to have a heart attack about what happened to your house, then don't go in the kitchen where Isabella was trying to make you breakfast this morning." Kaidan received a groan from Adele as she imagined the horror that the kitchen was in. Kaidan chuckled, and then added, "Isabella wants to take you out to the field and pick wild flowers and wild berries with you for your birthday."

"Alright, I'll be ready in twenty minutes," Adele said as she removed the rest of her clothes and headed towards the bathroom to shower.

"I think you mean WE will be ready and probably in thirty minutes," Kaidan said as he kissed Adele on the lips. Kaidan continued to kiss and caress Adele as she quickly undressed him. Kaidan backed Adele into the bathroom against the shower wall and turned the shower on. The cold water hit Chadian's back but he didn't care, all he could think about was the beautiful, battle scarred woman in front of him. Kaidan ran his fingers over each one of Adele's individual scars. The one he saved to touch until last was the scar from Indoor that ran the full length of her back. Kaidan knew that the memory of Midair was the one that haunted her the most on her birthday. Adele told him before of how much she missed the birthday rituals her father implemented for her birthday. Adele told him that in the morning her Dad would come in and throw her over his shoulder bringing her downstairs to eat a homemade breakfast in the morning, and they would always find an activity to do with just the family for the rest of the day. And finally at night, Adele would go outside with her father, and watch the stars. While looking up at the stars, her father would hand her a cupcake with a single candle on it to make a wish. Kaidan brushed his fingers over the scar from Mindoir before making a line of kisses down it.

"You will never be alone, all of the crew will always stand behind you and I, I will always stand beside you, ready to face the galaxy." Kaidan said. With everything being said, the two finished their shower together. Adele dressed in a bright red sundress to go pick flowers with Isabella, while Kaidan dressed in dark jeans and a blue dress shirt, un-tucked, with the top two buttons open.

"Mom, come on! There is still daylight to burn and flowers and berries to pick!" Isabella yelled from the bottom of the stairs in black shorts with a yellow tank top.

"Wish me luck," Adele chuckled as she leaned in for a kiss.

"Have fun, I love you to the stars and back," Kaidan said as he kissed his wife goodbye. They've been married for years and Kaidan still couldn't believe how much he loved his wife, and would do anything for her. Kaidan walked downstairs with Adele and waved to his wife and child as they headed out the door with their baskets for picking flowers and berries. As soon as he shut the door, Kaidan started planning for the party. Kaidan sent a hail to Joker first.

"Alright, Isabella dragged Adele out of the house for a couple hours, what's your ETA?" Kaidan asked when Joker's face popped up on the screen.

"Well, it should be-" was all Joker got out before Kaidan heard a heated argument.

"How about I shove a biotic fucking fist in your mouth to shut you up? You've been running your mouth THE WHOLE TRIP! If you ran as fast as your mouth, you would be in amazing fucking shape!" Jack's voice rang out through Kaidan's omni-tool.

"Would you stop acting like such a child? You flip out if people breath the wrong way," an Australian accent rang out at a reply to Jack. Kaidan could only assume that it was Miranda who was conversing with Jack.

"As you can see, it has been a FABULOUS trip Kaidan, and you owe me sooo much booze when I get there in like twenty minutes." Joker said as he adjusted his hat with an annoyed face. "If you too would shut up for twenty minutes, I will try not to crash your side of the Kodiac." Joker spat out, obviously sick of the two women bickering.

"I'll leave you to it." Kaidan said, wondering how much patience Joker had left.

"Before you go, do you know if the commander collected stray cats when she was younger? You should have seen the face of the people at the space station as they watched an overly tattooed biotic, an asari justicar, two krogan, a women with perfect genetics, a turian, a human with arms as pick as a tree, a quarian, and a crippled pilot all get onto one small ship. Oh, and let's not forget that we did bring two normal people: Estaban and Jacob. " Joker said.

"Adele never did have pets when she was younger…. Maybe this is how she made up for it?" Kaidan suggested with a grin.

"That would explain it, I will see you in twenty minutes if the bulk head doesn't get torn out" Joker replied with an exasperated sigh.

Kaidan headed straight to the kitchen to begin preparing the food, he knew James was the only other person that could help with the cooking and have the food still be edible. Kaidan thought back to before the final battle on Earth, when it was just Adele and him in Anderson's apartment:

"_Ready to head out?" Shepard asked, assuming that they were going to go to a restaurant. _

"_Let's stay, you know we are only going to end back up here anyways." Kaidan said with his lopsided grin. He walked past her, heading towards the kitchen, and heard her starting to protest._

"_You want me to stand here and watch you cook?" Shepard asked with a skeptical look on her face. Kaidan knew that she couldn't cook and wouldn't be much help._

"_No, I'm asking you to help me drink beer. Now sit your ass down!" Kaidan said jokingly. Being a biotic, he had to know how to cook, a starving biotic was no use to anyone, not even themselves. "Do you cook Shepard?" Kaidan inquired, even though he already knew the answer after seeing her almost burn simple scrambled eggs on the Normandy. Kaidan got a glare because she knew that Kaidan had seen her cooking fiascos multiple times._

"_I always go into the mess when James is cooking for a reason." Adele said as she took a swig of her beer._

"_That's why you did that? I thought I was to admire his oversized muscles!" Kaidan teased._

"_There's only one man I want to look at, especially his butt, and that would be you," Adele said as Kaidan blushed at the mention of Adele's infatuation with his butt. "Are you sure you can cook Kaidan?" Adele asked with mistchive in her eyes._

"_Positive. Why?" Kaidan asked confused._

"_Because your burning the garlic." Shepard said laughing at him as he went to turn the heat down on the stove._

"_Guess I'm a little distracted," Kaidan replied. _

"_By what?" Adele asked innocently._

"_I wonder…" Kaidan said, giving Adele a smoldering stare._

"_We have hot sauce, right?" Adele continued to tease._

_After they ate Adele was sure that they needed to find a way to burn the calories off, and kissed him all the way up the stairs. _

Kaidan knew that the moments where Adele was smiling and was able to be herself without her memories of those who she couldn't save and the horror that she had seen weigh her down. Kaidan had all the ingredients laid out when the group of misfits arrived.

"Hey, the fun has arrived!" James announced as he let himself through the front door of the house. _Here goes nothing, _Kaidan thought as he went to assign each person to a different task to prepare the party for when Adele came back.


	4. It Doesn't Matter, I Will Love You Alway

**Authors Note: This chapter sort of had a mind of it's own and really went into the life of the crew and how their lives were effected after the war. Some characters like James Vega, Jack, and Joker will continue to appear throughout the story frequently and I thought a better understanding of what their lives of like would give the story some substance. Hope you like what you've read so far, again, Bioware owns all characters and the Mass Effect series. Please review, favorite or follow! –Thanks**

Everything was in place. The food was ready, Jack picked out appropriate music for the party with the help of James, and Traynor had the bar ready to make drinks. Everyone was either talking about war stories, old times, or even what 'Shepard' was going to say when she walked in.

"I think we have enough flowers to fill the whole house!" Adele was exclaiming to Isabella as they walked up the path back to the house.

"And enough berries to make at least three pies! Can't we make them Mommy? Maybe tomorrow?" Isabella was begging to her mother as she stuffed another handful of berries in her mouth.

At the sound of Adele's voice everyone in the house froze.

"Everyone upstairs!" Kaidan hissed. Everyone bolted as quietly up the stairs as possible, out of sight from the doorway. The door opened and the mother-daughter pair walked in together both laughing.

"What's so funny?" Kaidan asked, trying to keep his own excitement contained.

"Nothing, just girl talk." Adele replied while winking at Isabelle, causing the young girl to laugh.

"Hmmmm… I'm sure it was." Kaidan said, unconvinced. Adele planted a kiss on his lips, and he could taste the sweet berries that she must have eaten.

"Well isn't that just freaking adorable." Jack said sarcastically as she came down the stairs with James in tow.

"Jack? James? What are you two doing here!?" Shepard exclaimed as she ran over to give Jack a hug.

"We couldn't let our mujer favorita* celebrate her birthday without us, now could we?"

"No, that would be wrong now wouldn't it?" Garrus said as he and the rest of the group walked down the stairs. Adele's eyes went huge at the surprise at having all her best friends together, and started laughing with joy. The party was just getting started.

"Thank you, Adele whispered to Kaidan as she passed him on the way to the couch, squeezing his hand with a smile. As Adele approached the two krogan she was instantly greeted.

"Shepard." Wrex said first.

"Wrex." Adele replied, amused that Wrex still refused to call her anything else but battlemaster or her former last name.

"Sheeepparrdd," Grunt said, trying to out-do Wrex.

"Umm.. Grunt." Adele replied as she slowly backed away from the competition that was about to take place between the two. It wasn't a good idea for her to stick around, especially with ryncol in the mix. Adele went to mingle with one of her closest of her friends, Jack. Adele spotted Jack sitting on the floor in front of Isabella. Isabella was taking Jack's make-up off and was deciding to do a make-over on Jack.

"As long as you don't make me look as ugly as that Cerberus bit-, I mean Miranda." Jack muttered to Isabella, trying not to swear in front of the small child. Adele smiled as she walked over to them, but saw James watching Jack and Isabelle with something like admiration.

"James," Adele greeted as she walked up next to the large man standing in the doorway.

"Lola," James replied. That nickname never failed to make her smile. Adele remembered when she asked Vega about her nickname specifically:

"_So I'm a Lola, huh?" Adele asked Vega._

"_Yeah, my best friend's sister growing up was Lola._ _Older sister. Hot. Tough." Vega replied smiling._

"I see the way that your looking at her, what's going on between you two?" Adele nudged James, looking for an answer.

" Yeah Isabelle and I are getting pretty serious, I've gotten her cooking skill to improve…" James said avoiding a serious answer.

"You know I'm not talking about Isabelle, because I would kick your ass if you were looking at her that way. Jack. What's going on between you and Jack?" Adele pushed further into the subject.

James sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I've ran into her at a local bar a few times and have talked to her, but she just closes herself off, doesn't give you a serious answer and plays everything off like no big deal," James said as he continued to stare at the scene of Jack and Isabelle.

"Ask her out on a real date, ask the serious questions and get her to see that your not fucking around. Make her see that you are serious about her. But break her heart Vega and I will break that pretty little face of yours." Adele threatened, trying to protect/help both of her friends.

"Thanks Lola, I will." James said as he walked over to Isabella throwing her over his shoulder, causing Isabella to squeal in delight. Jack, with a dark look on her face and a smirk threw James in a singularity and caught Isabella as she fell out of the air.

"Nice try meathead, but you can't steal Izzy away from her favorite aunt." Jack said jokingly as Isabella wrapped her arms around Jack's neck and yawned. Jack sat down on a near by couch and released James from the singularity, causing him to crash down to the floor. James mumbled a few "choice words," and made his way over to the couch Jack was on with Isabella. Jack looked like she was ready to fall asleep too, when James sat down next to her, putting his arm around the back of the couch.

"If your looking for a quick fuck, I'm not in the mood." Jack spat out, struggling to keep her eyes open.

"I'm here to know you better. I've talked to you on the citadel in Purgatory during the war, and I've talked to you at a local bar multiple times. I think your amazing even with all of the scars and emotional abuse you've had to take. Everyone in this house is screwed up in some way and that allows us to all relate to each other." James rambled on.

Jack leaned into James' side and mumbled "don't fuck this up." James was sure that in that moment, it was the most vulnerable anyone had ever seen Jack. Jack fell asleep in James' embrace with Isabella fast asleep in her lap.

Meanwhile, downstairs Joker was nursing a scotch on the recliner talking with Adele.

"So Isabelle has everyone wrapped around her little finger? I mean come on, Commander Shepard, picking berries and flowers?! That's more funny then Command Shepard dancing!" Joker said, laughing at how much had changed in both of their lives.

"Technically it's Alenko now Jeff, and my dancing isn't THAT BAD! No one was injured at my wedding a few years ago, so that's improvement on my part!" Adele tried to defend herself.

"No one would admit how bad their toes hurt because they didn't want to hurt your feelings on your wedding, nor did they want their ass kicked my an N7! But seriously, I'm happy for you Shep." Joker stood up to kiss her on her cheek before he walked to the bar to get Traynor to make him a drink.

The party started to slow down, everyone was filled to the top with liquor and cake. Adele and Kaidan didn't over do it like everyone else so they could set up beds and a place to stay. Everyone was either situated on a couch, recliner, or a guest room bed. Kaidan was untangling Isabella from Jack's sleeping form on the couch next to James, whose head was bent to the side also asleep.

Kaidan carried Isabella upstairs to her room, tucked her into bed and kissed her goodnight. Walking down the hall way he could hear the slight hum of Adele singing in their bedroom. Kaidan walked into the bedroom to see Adele sitting on the balcony looking up at the stars, without a doubt thinking of her memories of her family on Mindoir. Kaidan went downstairs to the kitchen before returning to the bedroom and sitting besides Adele. Kaidan put his arm around Adele and kissed her cheek before setting in front of her a cupcake with a single lit candle.

"Make a wish." Kaidan murmured. Adele thought for a second as she continued to look up at the stars and then leaned forward and blew out the candle. Both of them were submerged in darkness with only light from the stars

"This means the world to me Kaidan, just liked you." Adele whispered as she tenderly caressed his cheek and stared into his whiskey colored eyes.

"I will love you…" Kaidan started to say.

"…Until the end of time." Adele finished the line for him and sealed the promise of love with a kiss as she snuggled into Kaidan's arms and fell asleep under the stars.

***Mujer favorita - favorite woman**


	5. Through sickness and in health

It was eight A.M when Adele woke up and found herself no longer on the balcony, but instead under the covers in their bed. She went to move to get up but found a heavy weight keeping her pinned down. Kaidan's arm was draper over her abdomen, keeping her stuck in his embrace. Adele wiggled out of the embrace, got dressed in black sweats and a red N7 tank top, and headed downstairs to survey the damage the party left behind. Coming down the stairs she heard voices echoing from the kitchen.

" No one will eat those if they taste awful." Jack said to James who was making 'huevos rancheros.'

"You truly wound me with your words," James said as he set a heaping plate of the spanish eggs in front of Jack. Jack's eyes lit up at the food in front of her, and dug in.

"Your welcome," James said with a smirk as he watched Jack enjoy the cooking without any complaints. James noticed Adele in the doorway and beckoned for her to come in.

"Mornin Lola, want some of these eggs? There just like my abuelita used to make." James asked. But as soon as Adele smelled the eggs on Jack's plate, she bolted from the kitchen and upstairs. Adele continued to spring down the hall to the bathroom inside Kaidan's and her room. Everything was spinning as she threw up most of the contents in her body.

"Adele?" Kaidan called as he came closer to the bathroom. When Kaidan looked inside the bathroom, Adele was leaning against the wall, with a paled face.

"Hey, you ok?" Kaidan asked as he put his hand to her forehead to see if she had a fever. Adele groaned. Kaidan went to pick her up and got a mumbled response.

"Let me brush my teeth..." Adele asked weakly. Kaidan led her to the sink, let her brush her teeth, and then picked her up bridal style to lay her in bed. Kaidan quietly close the door behind him as he went to check on the crew that was still passed out all over the house. Downstairs in the kitchen everyone had a plate and was eating everything that James was cooking up. The only exception was Joker.

"Tell me more! Please Uncle Jeff! Come on, please!" Isabelle begged as she was sitting in Joker's lap.

"Alright, alright, stop pouting, if you do I too long your face will be stuck that way." Joker teased as he launched into another adventure that happened on the Normandy. At least he is starting to move on from Edi, Kaidan thought. The Quarians were, so far, unsuccessful with reconstructing the Geth and Edi.

"Hey Joker, why don't you take Isabella out for the day? I'm sure she would love to spend time with you." Kaidan said, trying to get Isabella out of the house because Adele was sick.

"Yah! Pretty please Uncle Jeff? It will be the bestest day ever!" Isabella exclaimed practically jumping up and down on Jokers lap with wide eyes of excitement.

"I don't get how I'm supposed to say no to her. Your going to be a real heartbreaker some day kid." Joker sighed. "Yeah I'll bring her with me, maybe we will visit the Normandy if the engineers have it in dry dock."

"YESS!" Isabella squealed as she jumped off Jokers lap and went to get a sweatshirt and bag.

"I'll bring her back tonight." Joker said as he went to fire up the sky car.

Kaidan walked to the kitchen to try and move the rest of the Normandy along on their way. Plates were being stacked up in the sink when Kaidan walked in.

"Hey Major, have you seen Lola? She came down earlier and bolted after I showed her what I was making." James asked.

"Yeah, she's in bed, she's not feeling well." Kaidan said, thinking to himself that he should probably check on her again soon.

"Well, all of us need to head out anyways. It was one hell of a party though, thanks for inviting all of us." Estaban said as he shook Kaidan's hand.

"Just glad all of you guys could come. I called alliance HQ to send transport for all of you. Transport should be waiting outside and they will take you wherever you want." Kaidan said as he made his rounds to say goodbye to everyone. Everyone was finally gone, and the house was still in good shape after the party. Kaidan headed back upstairs to check on his wife. When Kaidan walked in, Adele was again not in the bed. Heading back to the bathroom, he found Adele lying on the tile floor next to the toilet. Kaidan quickly walked over.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Kaidan asked, searching Adele's eyes for any pain or sickness.

"Like Wrex had another ryncol competition with me," she groaned out.

"I'm going to call Chakwas over, you look worse then when you were covered in Thresher Maw acid after Grunt's "puberty" ritual." Kaidan said. He was even more worried when Adele didn't protest the doctor coming to run tests on her. Adele got up from the ground and Kaidan helped her back over to the bed, and handed her the terminal to watch vids while she waited.

Kaidan went downstairs to call Chakwas and to make soup for his wife.


	6. A Whole New Battle

"Well commander, your not sick." Chakwas said as she packed up the items she brought to use.

"Then what? I'm naturally made to throw up for 3 hours?" Adele spat out, her patience running thin after being poked and prodded for an hour.

"Well your pregnant. About 5 weeks in." Chakwas said calmly, not sure how Adele would take the news.

"How? Having Isabella was a miracle enough with all the injuries I had after the war! Won't the baby be in trouble?" Adele began to panic. Kaidan was watching from the doorway and was just as shell-shocked as Adele. He was excited that they were having another kid, but it was unexpected.

"Thanks for coming Karin, we really appreciate it." Kaidan said as he showed the doctor out. When he returned back to the bedroom Adele was holding her stomach and her head was scrunched up in frustration.

"Both Isabella and I barely survived my first delivery, I don't know I can take another death if this baby doesn't make it." Adele said, finally looking up at Kaidan.

"I think that even though your not in the field fighting anymore, your still stressed. I see you spending most of your free time trying to organize and coordinate the rebuilding efforts that are still going on with Hacket. So why don't we just get the house to ourselves for a few days, without any emails/anything work related. I know I've been getting called into Alliance HQ more recently, but just one week with just you and me." Kaidan said, looking for confirmation from Adele.

"That sounds amazing, but what are we going to do with Isabelle for a full week?" Adele asked, once again scrunching her forehead up in thought.

" I know quite a few people who adore her and we trust them more than ourselves sometimes." Kaidan said, sitting down next to Adele and rubbing her shoulders.

"One condition, we don't send her to Tuchunka... Wrex and Grunt on one planet with all that ryncol... There's no way she can stay there." Adele said, imagining the head butting and other injuries that would be inflicted on her daughter.

Kaidan laughed and said, "I think we can both agree that Tunchunka is not on our top places to keep her for a week."

Kaidan and Adele were both sitting side by side when they heard the front door shut. The sound of small feet running up the stairs followed the laughter of Izzy. Izzy came bursting in the room.

"Joker showed me the Normandy and where everyone worked. I got to go to the captain's quarters and the armory, AND Joker showed me where Aunty Jack used to hang out. Mommy your N7 armor is hanging in the armory in a case, it's Sooo cool! I wanna be a N7 soldier!" Izzy excitedly chattered before she flung herself towards her mother. Kaidan caught her in a singularity mid jump, to prevent Izzy from crashing into her sick mother.

"Isabella, you need to be careful. Come here, I have something to ask you" Kaidan said calmly as he released Izzy from the singularity, causing her to flop on the bed. Izzy crawled into her father a lap.

"How would you like to stay with some of your aunties and uncles this week before some of them re-deploy?" Kaidan asked, hoping his daughter wouldn't ask too many questions.

"REALLY?! Like even Uncle James and Aunty Jack? What about gawrus?" Isabelle was thinking of all the different places she could go in one week. Adele stared at her daughter, well at least she's not shy and is definitely not afraid of adventure! Adele thought.

"Yes, you can stay with Aunty Jack, or Uncle James. And Garrus is on Rannoch with Tali rebuilding their home, so they won't be available. Whenever Garrus would visit, Isabella would not let him out of her sight. Garrus laughed at her every time Izzy tried to say his name, it always came out as "Gawus," no matter how hard she tried to pronounce it. Isabella ran out of the room to start packing and she didn't even know where she was going yet.

"She is like the energizer bunny, she never stops moving!" Adele exclaimed in amazement.

"Who ever has her for the next week is going to have their hands full." Kaidan agreed.

"And you are also going to have your handful," Adele said as she climbed on Kaidan's lap, reached her hand into his hair, and slowly kissed him. Adele teased his lips with her tongue before standing up and saying,

"I better save some of this excitement for the upcoming week." Adele said mischievously.

"Your such a tease," Kaidan commented as he followed her out of bed and down the hall to the office. They had planning to do on where to send Izzy.

**Authors Note: sorry the chapters have been short, the upcoming ones are going to be long and more exciting. Any comments and reviews are appreciated as always. Some of the earlier chapters are being revised to fix small grammar and spelling mistakes. Also if anyone has suggestions for the story don't be afraid to inbox me, I promise to reply as quick as I can! Thanks for reading!**


	7. Letting Off Steam

The transport shuttle brought Kaidan, Adele and Isabella to the Citadel where Jack was staying to help teach a new biotic division. The three walked through the Citadel with countless people asking for autographs and pictures from the spectre couple. C-sec security showed up to offer help to the famous family and transported them to the apartment where Jack lived. As soon as the shuttle touched the ground in front of Jack's apartment, Isabella sprang out of her seat to run and ring the doorbell. Kaidan and Adele laughed as they grabbed Isabella's overnight bag and walked together towards the door.

"Hey squirt," Jack greeted Izzy when the door opened.

"Aunty Jack!" Izzy said as she jumped to hug Jack. Jack wrapped her arms around Izzy and hoisted Izzy up onto her waist. Jack grabbed the bag from Kaidan's outstretched hand.

"Try not to corrupt our daughter while we're away," Adele said with a smirk.

"Oh please, I'll toughen her up and show her how to be the best pirate in the galaxy, unlike her mom who wouldn't use the SR-2 to become a pirate." Jack said, referring back to the fight against the collectors. Jack tried to persuade Adele to just run away and become a pirate instead of turning herself in to the Alliance.

"Izzy already has us wrapped around her finger, so I have no doubt that the rest of the world will bow down to her too," Kaidan said.

"Don't you guys have a transport to catch back to Earth?" Jack asked.

"Yeah we better get going if we want to make it on time." Kaidan agreed. Adele walked over to her daughter in Jack's arms and kissed her on the head saying goodbye. Both Izzy and Jack waved to the couple as they got in the skycar, and drove away.

"Let's grab some lunch first, alright?" Jack said. _You can't go wrong with food, right? _Jack thought to herself as she let Izzy down to walk next to her. Taking care of a child would be her biggest challenge yet, even if it was only for a few days.

A few hours later Kaidan and Adele finally made it back to Vancouver alone. Before Adele even stepped past the front stoop of the house, Kaidan swept her off her feet and was kissing her as he carried Adele into the house. Kaidan placed Adele on the couch and sat next to her, placing his arm around the back of the couch. Adele leaned in to steal another kiss.

"What about a movie before dinner?" Kaidan suggested as Adele laid her head on his shoulder.

"Hmmm, sure, but it has to be something with action… or scary… or maybe funny…" Adele said, contemplating which to choose from.

"While you pick a movie, I'll go make some popcorn and grab us some drinks." Kaidan said, getting up from the couch and moving towards the kitchen. Adele was sorting through the movies and just found the perfect one as Kaidan returned. The movie was a comedy that had both Kaidan and Shepard laughing till they couldn't breathe. But when the movie was nearing it's end and Kaidan looked at Shepard, she was fast asleep against him.

"Come on, wake up," Kaidan said as he placed feather light kisses along Adele's face. "If you sleep now you won't sleep later," Kaidan tried to reason. Adele slowly opened her eyes and smiled up at Kaidan. It was in these moments that Kaidan swore there was nothing more beautiful in the world. He led Adele off the couch and outside to the patio. Adele sat down in one of the rocking chairs facing the English Bay while Kaidan headed inside again. When he returned, he was carrying two bowls of ice cream.

"This is why I keep you around," Adele said as she delved into her cold treat.

"Really, and I thought you kept me around for my good looks," Kaidan bantered back.

"Both, I definitely keep you around for both." Adele smiled as she looked at the sun setting in the sky. She placed her hand on her abdomen: "Do you think it will be a boy this time?" Adele asked.

"Hmm, maybe. But this one I think will have your eyes instead of mine." Kaidan predicted.

"Oh please, my eye color hardly ever shows up with genetics, and plus I love your eyes more." Adele said, reaching over to Kaidan's rocking chair to hold his hand. He squeezed her hand lovingly before reaching over with his other hand that held his soon to swipe some of her ice cream. Adele's eyes grew wide.

"No, you my handsome husband, have had your ice cream. This is all mine." Adele stated, covering the bowl with her hands to protect the precious substance. Kaidan smiled at her with raised eyebrows as if to challenge her. Then, a thin layer of blue shimmered over his skin. He used his biotics to pull the bowl from Adele's hands and into his own.

"That is not fair at all!" Adele yelled as she shot up to rescue the food.

"And when have you ever played by or even _listened_ to the rules?" Kaidan said mockingly.

"Your right," Adele agreed as she stopped struggling to reach the bowl that Kaidan held up in the air with his hand. "I'm an N7 soldier, I've been taught to use the resources I have." Adele stepped closer to Kaidan again wrapping her arms around his neck. She then raised herself on her toes to plant a passionate kiss on Kaidan's mouth. Both of them melted into each other, trying to deepen the kiss. When they came up from air, Adele was still trying to recover her breath as she looked at Kaidan and said, "You know what?"

"What?" He replied, staring into her eyes that were shinning with happiness.

"I've still got it," Adele said. Before Kaidan could figure out what she meant by the comment, she used her foot to take one leg out from under Kaidan. While he was off balance, Adele hit his arm at a pressure point, causing the ice cream bowl to fall out of his hand. Adele jumped forward, grabbed the bowl and retreated to the other side of the deck before Kaidan could retaliate. Kaidan recovered and stood up shaking his head with wide eyes in disbelief at the events that just happened.

"Did you really just use a military battle move to get ICE CREAM  out of my hand?" Kaidan asked.

"And now you know that I am still in command of this ship, uh I mean, this house. You would be wise to listen to my command." Adele said smiling widely.

"Yes ma'am." Kaidan replied with a mock salute. He walked over to Adele and wrapped his arms around her from the back. Standing there watching the sun set, Adele conceded the last spoonful of ice cream to Kaidans mouth.

"You're lucky I love you," she grumbled as she removed the spoon from his mouth.

"I am truly the luckiest man alive to have someone as smart, beautiful, and lethal as you."

"You're such a suck up!" Adele said, lightly nudging him in the ribs with her elbow.

"I do what I can to make my woman happy," Kaidan replied chuckling and placed his hand over hers on the bump that would soon start to form on her stomach.

**Authors Note: The next chapter will be more about Izzy and her experiences/adventures away from home for the week. And as usual, reviews are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading, and I can't wait to hear your comments/suggestions about the story! **


	8. Unexpected

**Author's Note: There is a lot of swearing because, well, it IS Jack we are talking about and she does not have the cleanest mouth. Also there is violence in this chapter (fight scene). I want to thank zulija and especially kelsey . chapelle for their reviews/comments, I know I just started writing on this site and the encouragement keeps me updating. Thanks for reading and reminder, Bioware owns all of the Mass Effect series and it's characters.**

"Jeez, I guess I need to go grocery shopping," Jack muttered to herself as she took Izzy for the second time of the day to go out to eat. First lunch, and now the pair were headed to dinner because of the lack of edible food in Jack's fridge. Jack decided to take Izzy to a small pub that just happened to have one of her favorite bars in it. Izzy found a table while Jack went to order a drink at the bar.

"Give me a Psychotic Biotic and a water," Jack said to the bartender. Last month when one of her biotic student's came up to her and told her that there was a drink made in her name after the war, she didn't believe him. But after the little ass mentioned it, Jack couldn't get her mind off it and went to the bar to find out for herself. And fuck, the little shit was right. The bartender told her that "her" drink was made up of Whiskey, Bourbon, Vodka, Red Bull and Habanero Sauce that coated the glass. Jack wouldn't admit it, but the drink was god damn amazing. She retrieved the drinks from the bartender and was about to head back to Izzy when she heard someone shouting for her at the other end of the bar.

"Hey loco! Jack!" A male voice called. Jack turned towards the sound to find James Vega waving her over.

"Well dumbass, I'm not going to leave the kid by herself." Jack said as she gestured towards Isabella. Heading back towards the table that Izzy was sitting at, James walked up besides Jack, took the two drinks out of her hands and sauntered in front of her towards the table. Just the small action of politeness that Vega showed stunned Jack. She quickly recovered and went to sit next to Izzy in the booth. The view of the three of them sounded like the opening to a bad joke: "_An overly tattooed biotic, a small angelic girl around five, and an overly muscled scarred man were sitting at a corner booth in a bar…" _

Jack snapped back to reality to see Isabella already starting to talk James' ear off. James ordered for the table, chips, tacos, and a small pizza. After everything was ordered Izzy took off for the bathroom, leaving James and Jack alone at the table.

"Where are Lola and the Major?" James asked as he drank the tequila he ordered.

"I didn't ask where they were going or doing, they asked me to take care of Izzy for a couple days and you know you can't say no to Shepard." Jack said. James chuckled.

"Aww come on, how hard can it be?" James teased.

"Well when you never had a family, and your childhood consisted of being experimented on and being pumped with drugs, you tend to have a hard time figuring out what to do with a _normal_ child. I've never had to deal with a kid as young as Izzy before, and I definitely have never taken care of one either." Jack sighed as she put her head in her hands.

"Whoa I was just teasing, no harm done. What happened when you were a kid exactly? And if you don't mind me asking, what IS your real name?" James asked as he leaned closer, trying to get Jack to look him in the eyes. Jack looked up with a spark in her eye.

"My name?" Jack asked, trying to remember when the last time was that anyone actually wanted to get to know her.

"Yeah, usually people have them," James teased.

"My name is Jacqueline. Jacqueline Nought." Jack said.

"And the childhood…" James prompted.

"I'm sorry, was I nominated for story time or something?" Jack fired back. She wasn't used to the attention to be on her in this way. When Jack threw a person through a wall with a biotic punch before she worked for the Biotic Division, yeah she expected attention. But with all that attention, not one person actually wanted to know who the hell she was. The food arrived and so did Isabella. Isabella squeezed herself between Jack and James and started to pick at the food.

An hour later after the three of them could eat no more, Jack waved over a waiter to pay for the bill. But before she could pull out her wallet, James opened his mouth.

"Hey señor!" James yelled to the waiter who began walking away after Jack requested the bill. "Put it on the tab Lenny has for me." James said. The waiter nodded and walked away once again.

"I didn't ask you to do that," Jack said with some anger laced into her words. _Who did he think he was? Did he think that she couldn't take care of herself nor Izzy? _Jack thought to herself.

"You didn't need to. I wanted to do it, so I did." James said shrugging.

"Well… thanks I guess." Jack mumbled as she stood up with Izzy to leave. Izzy grabbed Jack's hand and the two of them headed out the door.

"Bye Uncle James!" Izzy called, waving goodbye.

"Bye Izzy, see you later Jacqueline." James said. Jack knew the ass was smirking just the way he pronounced her full name. Jack looked down to make sure Isabella wasn't looking before she took her other hand (the one not holding Izzy's hand) and flicked James off behind her back. Jack heard James laughing loudly as they left.

Most people were in their houses at this time of night and the streets were eerily quiet. Jack kept looking around; something was making her feel queasy. Jack led Izzy to the right down a side street that headed towards the apartment. Jack stopped dead in her tracks when she saw three dark figures heading towards them. She turned Izzy around to head back towards the pub but found two more figures behind them too, also closing in on them. Jack's biotics came to life and her adrenaline started pumping as she thought of how to get Izzy out of here safely. _I could put a barrier around Izzy, but then my other attacks will be weaker and we are outnumbered. I could go to call someone on my omni-tool, but that would be too obvious and they could start shooting, Izzy could be injured. _Jack thought. She continued to run through scenarios in her head as quickly as she could when the sound of a punch being thrown brought her back to the fight.

Jack turned around with Izzy as close to her as possible in front of her. The last person she expected to be here to help the two of them arrived: James. As James was brawling with the two figures on one side of the street, Jack spun around to deal with the remaining three attackers. Jack flipped over a metal table and put Izzy behind it, instructing the small girl to not come out of cover or peak over it for ANY reason. Jack ran straight towards the three assailants glowing bright blue as she sprinted. First throwing a shockwave, Jack knocked two of the figures backwards and the she punched the only figure still on it's feet with a biotic punch. _One down, two to go_, Jack thought. She glanced back to see that James successfully took down one of his attackers and was still trying to gain position with the last remaining one. Now ready to finish off the battle, Jack stalked forward and clenched the enemy by the throat.

"Who are you!" Jack demanded as she slammed the being's head into a brick building next to her. The figure's hood fell back, and Jack was head to head with a bartarian.

"Go to hell!" the batarian muttered out as he spit in Jack's face. _I don't fucking repeat myself, _Jack thought and crushed the batarian's head. Jack was about to turn around to identify what she assumed to be the last bartarian when she was slammed backwards. Her head connected with the concrete with a hard _thwack _and her vision blurred momentarily. Jack could hear her name being screamed by Isabella from afar. Her attacker came closer and struck his boot down hard into Jack's wrist causing a distinct _crack_ to sound. The intense pain shooting up her arm caused Jack to scream out in pain. The weight of the boot was suddenly thrown off her, but her vision started to fade and she felt some blood trickle down her forehead. Before the darkness she heard a gunshot ring through the night sky and then James was calling her name. _At least Isabella will be safe_ Jack thought before she finally fell into the darkness.


	9. Run Away, Don't Look Back

**Author's Note: Sorry for the late update for those who are actually reading them, I know I left a little bit of a cliff hanger in the last chapter. This**

Jack slowly opened her eyes. Her head was pounding, and her left arm was weighted down by something. As her brain began to catch up with her, Jack took in her surroundings. Her heart beat faster, _where the hell am I?_ Jack thought. She was lying in a bed that was in a high-end apartment and her left arm was wrapped in a makeshift cast. The only thing that Jack could think about was Izzy. Jack went to stand up to search the strange apartment and any sign of Isabella. As soon as she went to put her body weight on her feet, she started to sway as if she didn't know how to walk anymore.

"What the hell are you doing!?" An exasperated voice sounded out. Strong arms came around her waist before she could fall. Jack started to glow blue, ready to fight the person that assumed they could touch her.

"Mierda, Jack stop it's me Vega." James said, trying to calm her down. She was still disoriented and could only think of the arm that was holding her "hostage." She glowed brighter and prepared a biotic slam.

"No, no, no Jack come on, you know me. Jacqueline listen to me!" James pleaded. At the use of her first name, her biotics sizzled out. The memory of the night before came back to her.

"James? Where the fuck are we?" Jack said, attempting to take another step forward again.

"We are at my apartment, Izzy is downstairs reading a book on my omni-tool." James said almost reading her mind about Izzy. Jack stepped forward and James moved with her. She gave a frustrated grunt at not being able to walk on her on.

"You need to stop trying to move," James said, trying to move her back to the bed.

"No, I'm not going to go back to sitting and doing nothing on my ass. How long was I out anyways?"

"It's nearly noon now, so you've been sleeping for about thirteen hours." James replied. Jack's eyes almost popped out of her head when she heard how long she'd been unconscious. She went to make a move to find the stairs and see Izzy.

"Would you just ask for some freaking help you lunatic!" James said, starting to get angry. Jack looked up at him with fire in her eyes and attempted to shove him away but she was too weak at the moment.

"I never asked for your pity party," Jack spat out. Before she could make another attempt at the stairs, Vega growled and picked her up in his arms.

"You don't know when to ask for help, you don't seem to understand that there are people who would do nearly freaking anything for you, and you don't seem capable of letting anyone to fucking get to know you. I really love how strong you are and that you take no bullshit from anyone, but you seriously are more infuriating then any other damn marine I know. Now just let me help you." James said in an angry whisper so Izzy wouldn't hear. Jack was stunned into silence and didn't know how to respond. Izzy ran over to them as soon as they reached the landing of the stairs.

"Aunty Jack are you ok? I saw you were badly hurt and I…I…" Izzy said with tears starting to form in her eyes. Jack motioned to James to put her down. James was conflicted and instead placed Jack on the couch.

"Come here squirt," Jack said as she patted the spot next to her on the couch. Isabella went over and leaned into Jack's side. Both sat there content and Jack went to turn on the television.

"I'm fine, the guy just got a lucky punch in." Jack said, to Izzy trying to play her pain off. As the two sank into a comfortable silence James called Jack into the kitchen. She left Isabella watching TV and went to see what James wanted. Jack stepped into the kitchen and the smell of pancakes made her stomach growl.

"Thought you might be hungry, and you're a biotic so I made extra." James said as he set in front of her a stack of pancakes, whipped cream, strawberries and maple syrup.

"Did anyone tell Shepard about the incident yet?" Jack asked, continuing to stuff her face with pancakes.

"I did call, but it was the Major who picked up the phone. I told him the story, Adele and him will be here relatively soon to take Isabella home." James replied, watching Jack's reaction.

"I officially confirmed their belief that I can't take care of a simple child." Jack grumbled, standing up to clean her dishes.

"They wouldn't have trusted you with Izzy in the first place if they didn't think she would be safe with you." James argued. "You wash, I'll dry," James added before Jack continued.

"I cause more trouble then they need, I think I'm going to go away for awhile, just figure some stuff out." Jack said as she washed the last dish in the sink, handing it to James.

"Where are you going to go?" James asked.

"Don't know, just away from the Alliance classes I'm teaching and everyone else." Jack said. Before James could ask any more questions the doorbell rang. Both James and Jack heard little Izzy's feet puttering down the hallway to see who was at the door. The door opened and Izzy jumped right into her Mom's arms, and her little hands fisted around Adele's neck as tight as they would go. Jack grabbed her coat, said goodbye to the Alenko family and moved out of the apartment as fast as her injured body would let her.

"Maldita sea Jack!" James said as he went to open the door and retrieve her. But, when the door finally opened, Jack was gone.

"She's running isn't she?" Adele asked.

"Yep, she is so screwed up in the head and is nearly impossible to get through to." James angrily spat out.

"Don't give up on her James, you've gotten through to her better than most. It took me the entire time from my resurrection, until my fight at the collectors base to get her to talk about the deep stuff." Adele sympathized. Kaidan put his arm around his wife's shoulder:

"We're going to head home, we will call just for another review what happened and try to figure out who the hell these people are." Kaidan said.

"Thanks again for helping watch Isabella," Shepard yelled back as she stepped into the skycar with Izzy in her arms. As soon as they left, James headed back inside to pack a travel bag.

"How hard can it be to find one of the most powerful biotics in the world who doesn't want to be found?" James muttered sarcastically to himself as he stuffed another t-shirt into his bag. Well he was going to find out. James knew that the rest of the crew would jump to help Adele find out the people behind the attack. If anything, James couldn't complain that his life was boring.

**Spanish Translations:**

**mierda –shit**

**maldita sea – damn it**


	10. Your Enemies, Are My Enemies

**Author's Note: Just referring back to some of the feedback that I received on the last chapter, Jack may be one of the most powerful biotics in the world, but it is still possible for her to get hurt! Especially when Jack was thinking about Izzy and keeping her safe. Again, thanks for reading and I hope you either fav/follow/review the story (or all three is good too)! Also, just be aware that there is cursing in this chapter from a certain biotic. Enjoy!**

_This is one of the worst times for a bunch of freelancers to be targeting our family. Isabella is still so young and Adele is pregnant again, _Kaidan thought. He rubbed his hands over his face and tried to figure out what to do next. Izzy was freaked out from the fight that James and Jack fought and now refused to leave her mom's side. He looked over to the couch to see Adele on the couch by herself with her hand on her abdomen and her eyes closed. Adele wasn't alone for long though before Izzy was on the couch with her, trying to lie down next to her mom. The dark bags under the eyes of his wife told Kaidan everything he needed to know. First off, his little vacation home alone with just the two of them failed miserably. Second, Adele wasn't sleeping again, which he feared might lead to health problems. Izzy 's need for constant attention since they have gotten home has tired her out, not to mention the stress that the attack on the family was providing. Lastly, Adele worried about Jack. Kaidan headed out to the porch to make some phone calls. He called Liara to use her Shadow Broker abilities to find any word on a hit on their family and also he called Traynor to do some digging at Alliance HQ.

Heading back inside, there was utter silence. Kaidan went back to investigate the living room where both Izzy and Adele last were. When he walked in, Adele had Izzy wrapped in her arms under the blanket, and both were fast asleep. He couldn't help himself and took a picture with his omni-tool. He then reached out to brush a stray hair from Adele's face causing Adele to automatically lean into Kaidan's touch, even in her sleep. Kaidan plucked Izzy out of his wife's arms and carried the small girl upstairs to her bedroom. After tucking Izzy in, Kaidan went downstairs to retrieve his second lady from the couch. Returning from the couch with Adele, Kaidan was halfway up the stairs when Adele said something.

"Why am I being carried up the stairs? I can walk you know." Adele said, trying to disentangle herself from Kaidan's arms. Kaidan held her even tighter in the "bridal style" hold.

"You were sleeping, and I'm going to hold my wife while I still can." Kaidan said. As soon as he looked at Adele's face he knew he said something wrong.

"You mean until I'm too fat with this kid inside me?" Adele said angrily as she crossed her arms and looked away from Kaidan.

"You know that's not what I meant. And you might want to stop squirming because I'm not putting you down until we get to our room, and your not escaping before then." He said. Once they reached the bedroom, Kaidan set Adele on her feet and she headed to the bathroom in silence. Kaidan took a breath, and headed to the bathroom to do damage control. Adele was brushing her teeth when he walked in. Instead of talking, he grabbed his toothbrush and cleaned his teeth next to her, sneaking glances at her now and then in the mirror. Adele threw her hair in a bun, changed her clothes and headed out of the bathroom and towards the bed. Kaidan spit out his last mouth of toothpaste and ran out after her. He grabbed Adele around the waist before she reached the bed and dragged her in front of the full-length mirror with him. Kaidan tugged up the loose shirt she was wearing and exposed her body in front of the mirror. Adele blushed brightly and went to tug the shirt back over the bump on her stomach. He stopped her hands.

"You will never be ugly in my eyes, especially not when you are carrying our child. I never want you to doubt how beautiful you are to me, even with the baby weight and the scars you carry. Every bit is a part of you and the life that you have created." Kaidan said as he hugged her and placed his calloused hands on her baby bump.

"You're just saying that so I'm not mad at you." Adele said, but she was leaning lazily in Kaidan's arms.

"Yes, but also because it's true." He said as he headed over to the bed with Adele in tow.

_The syringe plunged deep into her arms, but she couldn't fight back. Every inch of her body was being held down by metal that immobilized biotics. Pain shot through her as the last of the substance in the needle was emptied into her veins. A sound ran through the metal restraining her, and the locks released. She sprang forward only to find herself trapped in an arena. Kids her age came in the arena, one after another. She would fight one kid off just for another to take its place. When "they" decided that they've seen enough, they would electrocute her through the floor until she passed out. _

Jack woke up from the dream panting and shaking. Not only was her body reacting violently, but also her biotics were too. She was bathed in a blue glow and the furniture in the run-down motel room she was staying in was floating around. _The dreams keep getting more vivid and frequent the longer I'm alone_ Jack thought to herself. There was still a pounding at a door. _Who the fuck would be knocking on my door at this time of night_ Jack thought. Jack ripped open the door, her body still glowing blue.

"What the fuck do you want," Jack hissed before the door was fully open.

"Do you great all your guests like that? Or only the ones you really like?" James said as he pushed past a shocked Jack and into the trashy motel room.

"What are you doing here and how did you find me?" Jack asked as she closed the door and followed James into the room.

"Well the tattoos make you stand out a little and there isn't many people as fierce as you. Word gets around, especially in a small town in Illinois." James said, rifling through the mini-bar.

"You still didn't answer the whole question of WHY you are here," Jack said again, pulling James out of the mini-bar, forcing him to meet her fiery eyes.

"I'm here because I want to get what is going on through your mind, what your trying to overcome, and you've sort of grown on me." James said with his signature smirk. Jack started to blush on the last statement, but still continued to slug James across his face.

"What the hell!" James exclaimed, holding his jaw that would definitely be bruised in the morning.

"I don't need a babysitter," Jack growled and went to stalk away. James grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face him.

"No you don't. You would make even the worst of criminals stop with fear. You don't need a babysitter, you need a friend." James said with sincerity shining in his eyes.

"You wouldn't want to know what's going through my head, and everyone that gets close to me ends up paying a price." Jack mumbled. James took her chin and tipped it up so she was forced to look in his eyes.

"If there is a price to pay, I'm prepared to face it. You're worth it." James said and kissed her on the lips softly. Jack's knees nearly fell out from under her. Whenever she was kissed, it was for meaningless sex and lust, not out of the love and compassion that James was showing her. James ended the kiss, grabbed her hand and led her over to the bed. _This is where everything will be ruined, probably said all of that just to get in my pants _Jack thought to herself, trying to prepare herself for the harsh reality soon to come. Instead, James waited until Jack was laying down on the bed, took his shirt off, and laid down next to her, putting his arm around her waist to hold her into his side.

"You do this with all your so called 'friends'?" Jack asked sleepily. James chuckled.

"Only with the ones that I hope can become something more." James replied. Jack blushed brilliantly red and thanked the universe that the lights were off so James couldn't see.

"Goodnight sunshine," James said. Jack could tell he was smiling from the nickname he came up with.

"Sunshine? Oh that's perfect for me. Really fits my personality." Jack sarcastically bit out.

"I thought so," James said, before nodding off to sleep.

"Night J" Jack said to the sleeping man as she held onto his hand that was still wrapped around her waist. It was the first night in a long time that she slept without nightmares of her past.


End file.
